WO1992014037A1 - Down-hole wing motor - Google Patents

Down-hole wing motor Download PDF

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Publication number
WO1992014037A1
WO1992014037A1 PCT/GB1992/000202 GB9200202W WO9214037A1 WO 1992014037 A1 WO1992014037 A1 WO 1992014037A1 GB 9200202 W GB9200202 W GB 9200202W WO 9214037 A1 WO9214037 A1 WO 9214037A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
motor
wing
rotor
inlet
casing
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/GB1992/000202
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Hector Fillipus Alexander Van Drentham-Susman
Original Assignee
Roe, John, Richard, Neville
Doubenmier, John, Edward
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Roe, John, Richard, Neville, Doubenmier, John, Edward filed Critical Roe, John, Richard, Neville
Publication of WO1992014037A1 publication Critical patent/WO1992014037A1/en

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Classifications

    • FMECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
    • F01MACHINES OR ENGINES IN GENERAL; ENGINE PLANTS IN GENERAL; STEAM ENGINES
    • F01CROTARY-PISTON OR OSCILLATING-PISTON MACHINES OR ENGINES
    • F01C1/00Rotary-piston machines or engines
    • F01C1/30Rotary-piston machines or engines having the characteristics covered by two or more groups F01C1/02, F01C1/08, F01C1/22, F01C1/24 or having the characteristics covered by one of these groups together with some other type of movement between co-operating members
    • F01C1/34Rotary-piston machines or engines having the characteristics covered by two or more groups F01C1/02, F01C1/08, F01C1/22, F01C1/24 or having the characteristics covered by one of these groups together with some other type of movement between co-operating members having the movement defined in group F01C1/08 or F01C1/22 and relative reciprocation between the co-operating members
    • F01C1/344Rotary-piston machines or engines having the characteristics covered by two or more groups F01C1/02, F01C1/08, F01C1/22, F01C1/24 or having the characteristics covered by one of these groups together with some other type of movement between co-operating members having the movement defined in group F01C1/08 or F01C1/22 and relative reciprocation between the co-operating members with vanes reciprocating with respect to the inner member
    • F01C1/3446Rotary-piston machines or engines having the characteristics covered by two or more groups F01C1/02, F01C1/08, F01C1/22, F01C1/24 or having the characteristics covered by one of these groups together with some other type of movement between co-operating members having the movement defined in group F01C1/08 or F01C1/22 and relative reciprocation between the co-operating members with vanes reciprocating with respect to the inner member the inner and outer member being in contact along more than one line or surface
    • F01C1/3447Rotary-piston machines or engines having the characteristics covered by two or more groups F01C1/02, F01C1/08, F01C1/22, F01C1/24 or having the characteristics covered by one of these groups together with some other type of movement between co-operating members having the movement defined in group F01C1/08 or F01C1/22 and relative reciprocation between the co-operating members with vanes reciprocating with respect to the inner member the inner and outer member being in contact along more than one line or surface the vanes having the form of rollers, slippers or the like

Definitions

  • the invention relates to a hydraulically or pneumatically driven wing motor especially but not exclusively for use as a drilling tool in the oil, mining or civil engineering industry for directional including horizontal as well as straight hole drilling or as a top drive to drive a "Drill String”.
  • Down hole motors as generally used in the oil and mining industries suffer from the disadvantages that they are very long, heavy and expensive to manufacture.
  • the present invention provides a motor suitable for use in down-hole drilling applications, which motor is a wing motor and comprises a generally tubular casing and a rotor mounted for rotation within said casing and substantially radially spaced therefrom so as to define a chamber therebetween, said casing being provided with angularly spaced apart inlet means and outlet means for ingress of pressurised working fluid from inlet conduit means in said casing into said chamber and egress of said fluid from within said chamber, to outlet conduit means separated from said inlet conduit means by wall means in use of the motor, said casing having generally radially extending wall means extending substantially into contact with said rotor at an angular position between said outlet means and said inlet means , said rotor having a plurality of angularly spaced apart wing means said wing means being mounted in generally radially extending recesses so as to be displacable therein from a generally radially projecting position in substantially sealing engagement with the inner casing to a generally retracted position when traversing the
  • the casing is in the form of inner and outer casings with the inlet and outlet conduit means defined therebetween.
  • the inlet and outlet conduit means are longitudinally spaced at opposite sides of an annular wall.
  • pressurised working fluid acts against the upstream side of the wing means thereby to rotate the rotor while venting at the downstream side.
  • the motor of the present invention may thus be of quite short, light and inexpensive construction and can be produced using more or less conventional manufacturing techniques.
  • said rotor and casing are provided with, directly or indirectly, inter-engagable drive transmission means formed and arranged to allow the rotor to be driven by the casing in the case of wing failure.
  • the motor casing may be, for example, rotated by the drill pipe or "string”.
  • the non-retractable form of the generally radially extending wall means comprises longitudinally extending cams along the interior wall surface of the casing so as to provide progressive displacement of the wing means from their projecting positions to their retracted positions.
  • the inlet and outlet means comprise a plurality of discretely formed inlet and outlet ports in the inner casing.
  • the rotor is provided with a plurality of slot means formed and arranged for containing respective ones of the wing means or radially extending wall means, in their retracted position in preferred embodiments.
  • the radially retractable wing means are made from vulcanised neoprene or other suitable resiliently deformable polymeric material, desirably with metal and/or carbon fibre and/or glass fibre reinforcement.
  • Plastics materials such as polyimide and PEEK (polyethyl ether Ketone) are particularly convenient.
  • Other alternatives include all metal wings of relatively soft metal e.g. aluminium, and wings of harder metal e.g. stainless steel provided with suitable plastics coatings.
  • the wing means are in the form of cylindrical or tubular members which can roll as they traverse the interior wall surface of the casing and the radially inwardly projecting wall means.
  • wing means may however also be used including generally strip or slab form shapes which may have radially outer edges provided with separately formed sealing elements and/or configured so as to facilitate smooth traversal over the casing interior wall surface and the wall means whilst maintaining a good seal therewith.
  • Various examples of such wing means are disclosed. in our earlier patent application WO 90/09510.
  • the generally radially extending recesses are formed and arranged so as to be slightly wider than the wing means throughout the stroke of the wing means thereby to define clearance passages for the passage of fluid from said jet flow throughout the travel of the wing means between their fully retracted and fully radially projecting positions.
  • the recesses may be a more or less close sliding fit at their radially inward ends so that at the beginning of their stroke the wing means are displaced in generally piston-like manner by the pressure of the working fluid against their undersides.
  • the recesses may be of enlarged width at their mouths to provide wider clearance passages thereat in order to help clear any particulate material between the wings and the sides of the recesses.
  • the rotor has an odd number of wings in order to avoid 'dead' spots and possible 'stalling' of the rotor in a symmetrically disposed position relative to the inlet and outlet ports.
  • the motor has at least three wing means per each radially extending wall means, and desirably has at least two radially extending wall means but conveniently may have 3, 4, 5 or more radially extending wall means in order to provide higher torque for a given size of motor.
  • the rotor conduit means may be disposed at any convenient angle to longitudinal axis of the motor but preferably is disposed at an angle of from 20 to 90°, most preferably from 30 to 70° to the longitudinal axis, diverging radially therefrom in the downstream direction along the motor.
  • One or more such conduit means may be provided for each of the wing means.
  • the conduit means will be dimensioned so as to provide a fluid flow of the order of 0.5 to 0.8% each.
  • Fig. 1 is a sectional side view of a first embodiment of a wing motor in accordance with the present invention showing sections along the planes I-I and I-IA in Fig. 2;
  • Fig. 2 (A&B) is a transverse sectional view of the wing motor of Fig. 1 taken along planes II-IIA and II-IIB;
  • Fig. 3 is a sectional view corresponding generally to that of Fig. 2 of a modified embodiment;
  • Fig. 4 is a schematic sectional view corresponding generally to that of Fig. 2 of a further embodiment;
  • Fig. 5 is a detail view corresponding to part of Fig. 1 of a modified embodiment which has a direct connection from the strainer to the rotor thereof.
  • a first embodiment of a wing motor in accordance with the present invention comprises a tubular outer casing l, a concentric inner casing running-liner 2 with generally radially inwardly projecting wall means in the form of longitudinally extending wing deflector cams 3 (see Fig. 2) which form a stator for the wing motor, and a rotor 4 running in hard rubber or low friction plastics material bearings 5 at either end 4a, b.
  • Suitable plastics include PTFE (e.g. Teflon and polyamide-polyimide (e.g. Torlon) and suitable rubbers include copolymers of vynilidene fluoride and hexa-fluoropropene especially those available under the Trade Name VITON from Dupont of Buffalp, USA.
  • a drive end 6 of the rotor 4 is connected by a splined coupling 7 to a stub shaft 8 on which a ring 9 is mounted to contain the bearing races and transfer axial forces from the shaft 8 to a bearing assembly housing 10 (not shown in detail) .
  • the stub shaft 8 is mounted in the bearing housing 10 which also acts as the thrust block for the wing motor and forms an extension of a drive member 11 containing a drill bit or other tool engagement socket 12.
  • the rotor 4 is rotatably supported in the outer casing 1 via the low friction bearings 5 which are mounted in bearing housings 14 .
  • the rotor 4 is provided with a plurality of radially extending circumferentially spaced recesses in the form of roundbottomed slots 16, in which are disposed elongate longitudinally extending wings in the form of cylindrical rollers 15.
  • the rollers 15 are movable between retracted positions in which they are fully contained within the slots 16 and radially projecting positions in which they partly project from the radially outer surface 4c of the rotor 4.
  • Each wing 15 is made of VITON rubber or other resiliently defor able polymeric material.
  • a generally annular space 18 is defined between the rotor 4 and inner casing 2 and is divided by the two diametrically opposed wing deflector cams 3 into two chambers 18a, 18b.
  • Each of said chambers 18a, 18b is provided at a longitudinally upstream end 18c with inlet means in the form of several inlet ports .19 and at a longitudinally downstream end 18d, with outlet means in the form of several outlet ports 20 for the passage of pressurised working fluid there-through as indicated by the arrows thereat.
  • each slot 16 is provided with a conduit 32a leading from a central axial bore 32 extending along the rotor 4 which carries a substantial part of the working fluid flow through the motor.
  • the conduit 32a is inclined at about 30° to the central longitudinal axis of the motor and directs a jet of fluid against the underside of the wing 15 thereby applying a radially outward force thereto tending to press it against the casing 2 and the wing deflector cams 3 and seal it thereagainst.
  • the roller wings 15 will in practice tend to roll as the rotor turns thereby passing over any particulate matter trapped between the roller wings 15 and the casing 2 or deflector cams 3 without damage thereto.
  • wing rollers of at least partly resiliently deformable material the surface of the latter can yield locally as it passes over particulate material substantially without displacement of the main body of the wing roller 15 or loss of sealing between it and the casing 2 or deflector cams 3.
  • the fluid in the central bore 32 of the rotor 4 will generally be at a somewhat higher pressure e.g. 1000 p.s.i. as compared to 900 p.s.i. in the chambers 18 a-b and this provides the necessary positive flow through the conduits 32a.
  • the illustrated motor is mainly utilised in down-hole applications and is particularly useful for directional drilling.
  • Pressurised drilling fluid or mud is used to rotate the motor rotor 4 and thereby to drive the drive shaft 11.
  • the fluid enters the chambers 18a, b through the inlet ports 19 and exits through the outlet ports 20.
  • two first wings 15 1 projecting across respective ones of the chambers 18a, b are exposed to high pressure working fluid entering through the inlet ports 19 at their trailing sides 15c thereby exerting a clockwise (as viewed in Fig. 2) turning moment on the rotor 4.
  • Two other pairs of wings 15 2 are pressed down into their retracted positions in the slots 16 by the wing deflector cams 3.
  • the exhausted working fluid at the leading faces 15e of the wings 15 is compressed between the advancing leading faces 15e and the respective opposed wing deflector cams 3 and displaced longitudinally along the chamber to be expelled out of the outlet ports 20 at the longitudinally downstream end of the inner casing 2, into an annular outlet conduit means 20a defined between the inner and outer casings 2, 1 and separated from inlet conduit means 19a, between the inner and outer casings 2, 1 at their upstream ends adjacent the inlet ports 19, .by an annular bearing seal 21.
  • the wing deflector cam means 3 could be inclined slightly so as to wind helically clockwise as viewed in Fig. l towards the lower outlet end of the motor so as to facilitate progressive longitudinal displacement of exhausted working fluid towards the outlet ports as the rotor wings 15 advance.
  • the wings 15 could be formed with a slight helical twist so as to provide a similar effect.
  • pawl means could be included in line with the wings 15 for engagement with steep end faces of the wing deflector cams 3 adjacent the inlet ports 19 so that when the motor casing 1, 2 is driven in a clockwise direction the pawl means will lock against the wing deflector cam end faces thereby transmitting torque to the rotor 4 and thereby to the drive shaft 11 and tool mount 12 to rotate the drill bit or other tool.
  • the motor is thus in effect self locking»
  • the inlet and outlet ports are relatively large and that they are longitudinally spaced and separated by a generally annular wall means providing a relatively large cross-sectional area annular flow passage for the fluid between the inner and outer casings, and a large cross-sectional area flow passage through the ports.
  • the speed being generally below 1000 r.p.m. for example, from 100 to 200 r.p.m. for a 200 mm diameter motor and from 600 to 1000 r.p.m. for a 50 mm diameter motor, and at generally corresponding speeds for other sizes.
  • relatively abrasive fluids such as drilling mud are used to drive the motor since wearing of the motor parts which is a major problem at high flow rates is substantially minimised at low speeds.
  • the drilling mud flow required for cooling of the drill bit etc. will usually be in excess of that passing through the wing motor. This requirement may be satisfied by suitable dimensioning of the central axial bore 32 which feeds the jet flow conduits and allows part of the fluid flow from the main inlet 23 to by-pass the rotor chambers 18a, b and pass directly to the drill-bit holder 12 via a suitable throttle or nozzle means 33.
  • the latter could be disposed at the upper end 34 of the rotor 4 in the bearing housing 14 thereat whereby there could be used a drop nozzle which could be more or less readily changed with the aid of, for example, a wire line overshot fishing tool, to allow variation of the distribution of the drilling mud flow between the rotor chambers 18 ⁇ , b and the by-pass passage 32, e.g. for rotor speed control.
  • strainer 63 lining the internal conduit 32 of the rotor 4
  • fluids such as inadequately screened drilling muds which are in practice, often encountered in the drilling industry, without interfering with running of the motor.
  • the strainer has a large plurality of small generally slot-form apertures 64 (only some shown) in its side wall 65 and has a tapered downstream end 66 sealed with a screwthreaded plug 67.
  • the tapered end 66 of the strainer 63 could be connected directly to the upstream end 34 of the rotor 4 by a connector 68 with a suitable low friction bearing sleeve 69 between the connector 68 and strainer 63 to obtain a greater fluid flow through the rotor bore 32 e.g. in order to provide greater cooling and/or lubrication to a tool mounted in holder 12 and/or to allow the use of fluids such as drilling muds containing fibres and/or other lost circulation material for "sealing" porous strata against absorption of drilling mud, without the risk of such materials interfering with the operation of the motor.
  • fluids such as drilling muds containing fibres and/or other lost circulation material for "sealing" porous strata against absorption of drilling mud, without the risk of such materials interfering with the operation of the motor.
  • the latter arrangement is however preferred though from the point of view of manufacturing convenience and also because it helps to maximize the cross-sectional area of the inlet and outlet conduits 19a,20a thereby reducing resistance to fluid flow through the motor and facilitating maximum fluid flow through the motor thereby maximizing torque etc.
  • This in turn helps to minimize the overall diameter of the motor required to achieve a given torque which is particularly significant in the context of the small diameter of boreholes and the like in which the motor may be used.
  • the radially extending wall means 3 are also conveniently formed separately and connected to the inner casing by any suitable means preferably releasable ones e.g. screws 70, which also allows for replacement thereof when required e.g. as a result of wear.
  • the wall 21 is desirably fixed securely to both the inner and outer casings 2,1 e.g. using bolts or radially extending pins, so as to prevent relative rotation therebetween and absorb the reactive forces during running of the motor.
  • the wall means 21 is desirably provided with suitable high performance seals 71 e.g. high temperature silicon rubber seals.
  • thrust plates 72 which have shallow radially extending slots 73 which align with and form short extensions 74 of the wing mounting slots 16 into which extreme end portions 75 of the wing rollers 15 extend.
  • the radially outer surface 76 of the thrust plate 72 mounts a low friction sleeve seal 77 which helps to minimise leakage at the ends of the wing rollers 15 and loss of fluid pressure from the motor chambers 18a, 18b.
  • radially extending walls 3 and wings 15 may be used (see Figs. 3 and 4).
  • at least two, desirably three, wings are used for each wall so that there are usually at least two wings 15 between successive walls 3. This increases sealing between the inlets and outlets 19,20 and hence maximizes the torque of the motor.
  • the wings should desirably be made as light as possible to minimize their inertia and the driving force applied to them by the jet flow of fluid via passages 32a, maximised.
  • the motors of the invention may be used for various purposes with various working fluids including gases such as compressed air.
  • gases such as compressed air.
  • the motors of the invention are particularly suitable for use in downhole applications such as drilling and cor d ing and the present invention includes with its scope drilling and coring apparatus wherein the motor is a motor of the present invention, as well as methods of driving drilling and coring apparatus using a motor of the present invention.

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  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Hydraulic Motors (AREA)

Abstract

A down hole wing motor comprises a generally tubular casing (1), a rotor (4) mounted for rotation within the casing (1) with an a nnular chamber (18) therebetween. The casing (1) is provided with angularly spaced apart inlets and outlets (19, 20) for ingress and egress of pressurised working fluid to and from the chamber (8). The rotor (4) has angularly spaced apart wings (15) mounted in radially extending recesses (16) so as to be displaceable therein from a radially projecting position in sealing engagement with the inner casing (1) to a retracted position. The wings (15) and the inlets (19) and outlets (20) are angularly disposed so that a flow of pressurised fluid into the chamber (18) acts against an upstream side (18c) of a first wing 151 so as to rotate the rotor (4) while venting fluid from its downstream side (18d) until the wing 151 traverses the outlet (20) and a second wing 152 traverses the inlet (19) whereupon the process is repeated. The rotor (4) is provided with a conduit (32a) having an inlet for ingress of pressurised working fluid, at a pressure higher thanthat obtaining in the chamber (18) and has outlet portions leading into the radially extending recesses (16) so as to direct a jet flow of pressurised working fluid against the underside of the wings (15) for driving the wings (15) radially outwardly of the recesses (16). The wings (15) and recesses (16) provide clearance passages for the escape of pressurised working fluid jet flow around the wings (15) into the chamber (18) in the radially projecting position of the wings (15).

Description

"DOWN-HOLE WING MOTOR" The invention relates to a hydraulically or pneumatically driven wing motor especially but not exclusively for use as a drilling tool in the oil, mining or civil engineering industry for directional including horizontal as well as straight hole drilling or as a top drive to drive a "Drill String". Down hole motors as generally used in the oil and mining industries suffer from the disadvantages that they are very long, heavy and expensive to manufacture.
Various hydraulic wing motors have been previously proposed for down-hole applications but have been found to suffer from severe practical deficiences due to the extremely harsh operating conditions which down-hole motors are subjected to. One important practical problem arises from the fact that although the drilling mud used to drive the motor is supposed to be subject to intensive screening and cleaning procedures after previous use before it is supplied to the motor, in practice, due to the often difficult operating conditions found at drilling sites, the drilling mud often contains significant amounts of more or less abrasive contaminants. These can give rise to severe wear on the parts which results in very rapid loss of performance in the motor due to erosion of parts and leakage therearound.
It is an object of the present invention to avoid or minimise one or more of the above disadvantages.
It has now been found that the necessary displacement of the wing or wall means from their retracted positions to their radially projecting positions may be achieved when using 'dirty' working fluids without substantial wear of the motor parts, by using jets of the drilling fluid formed and arranged for impacting against the underside of the wall or wing means and then flowing away around the sides of the wall or wing means. The kinetic energy transferred from the more or less high velocity fluid flow to the wing or wall means, causes the latter to be displaced outwardly.
The present invention provides a motor suitable for use in down-hole drilling applications, which motor is a wing motor and comprises a generally tubular casing and a rotor mounted for rotation within said casing and substantially radially spaced therefrom so as to define a chamber therebetween, said casing being provided with angularly spaced apart inlet means and outlet means for ingress of pressurised working fluid from inlet conduit means in said casing into said chamber and egress of said fluid from within said chamber, to outlet conduit means separated from said inlet conduit means by wall means in use of the motor, said casing having generally radially extending wall means extending substantially into contact with said rotor at an angular position between said outlet means and said inlet means , said rotor having a plurality of angularly spaced apart wing means said wing means being mounted in generally radially extending recesses so as to be displacable therein from a generally radially projecting position in substantially sealing engagement with the inner casing to a generally retracted position when traversing the radially extending wall means said wing means and inlet and outlet means being formed and arranged and relatively angularly disposed so that, in use of said motor, a flow of pressurised fluid into said chamber acts against an upstream side of a first said wing means so as to rotate said rotor while venting fluid from its downstream side until said wing means traverses said outlet means and a second said wing means traverses the inlet means whereupon said process is repeated characterised in that said rotor is provided with conduit means having inlet means formed and arranged for ingress of pressurised working fluid, in use of the motor, at a pressure higher than that obtaining in the chamber; and having outlet portions leading into said radially extending recesses and formed and arranged so as to direct a jet flow of said pressurised working fluid against the underside of said wing means for driving said wing means radially outwardly of said recesses, said wing means and recesses being formed and arranged so as to provide clearance passages therebetween for escape of said pressurised working fluid jet flow around said wing means into said chamber at least in the radially projecting position of the wing means.
It will be appreciated that with the above arrangement the effective displacement of the wing or wall means is not dependent on the use of closely fitting parts in which particularly high tolerances have to be maintained and wherein even only limited amounts of wear result in rapid loss of power and working efficiency.
Advantageously, the casing is in the form of inner and outer casings with the inlet and outlet conduit means defined therebetween. Preferably the inlet and outlet conduit means are longitudinally spaced at opposite sides of an annular wall.
In use of the motor, pressurised working fluid acts against the upstream side of the wing means thereby to rotate the rotor while venting at the downstream side.
The motor of the present invention may thus be of quite short, light and inexpensive construction and can be produced using more or less conventional manufacturing techniques.
Advantageously, said rotor and casing are provided with, directly or indirectly, inter-engagable drive transmission means formed and arranged to allow the rotor to be driven by the casing in the case of wing failure. In this case the motor casing may be, for example, rotated by the drill pipe or "string".
Conveniently, the non-retractable form of the generally radially extending wall means comprises longitudinally extending cams along the interior wall surface of the casing so as to provide progressive displacement of the wing means from their projecting positions to their retracted positions. Advantageously, the inlet and outlet means comprise a plurality of discretely formed inlet and outlet ports in the inner casing. The rotor is provided with a plurality of slot means formed and arranged for containing respective ones of the wing means or radially extending wall means, in their retracted position in preferred embodiments.
Conveniently, the radially retractable wing means are made from vulcanised neoprene or other suitable resiliently deformable polymeric material, desirably with metal and/or carbon fibre and/or glass fibre reinforcement. Plastics materials such as polyimide and PEEK (polyethyl ether Ketone) are particularly convenient. Other alternatives include all metal wings of relatively soft metal e.g. aluminium, and wings of harder metal e.g. stainless steel provided with suitable plastics coatings. Preferably the wing means are in the form of cylindrical or tubular members which can roll as they traverse the interior wall surface of the casing and the radially inwardly projecting wall means. Other forms of wing means may however also be used including generally strip or slab form shapes which may have radially outer edges provided with separately formed sealing elements and/or configured so as to facilitate smooth traversal over the casing interior wall surface and the wall means whilst maintaining a good seal therewith. Various examples of such wing means are disclosed. in our earlier patent application WO 90/09510.
Conveniently the generally radially extending recesses are formed and arranged so as to be slightly wider than the wing means throughout the stroke of the wing means thereby to define clearance passages for the passage of fluid from said jet flow throughout the travel of the wing means between their fully retracted and fully radially projecting positions. If desired though the recesses may be a more or less close sliding fit at their radially inward ends so that at the beginning of their stroke the wing means are displaced in generally piston-like manner by the pressure of the working fluid against their undersides. Also, if desired, the recesses may be of enlarged width at their mouths to provide wider clearance passages thereat in order to help clear any particulate material between the wings and the sides of the recesses.
Advantageously, the rotor has an odd number of wings in order to avoid 'dead' spots and possible 'stalling' of the rotor in a symmetrically disposed position relative to the inlet and outlet ports. Preferably the motor has at least three wing means per each radially extending wall means, and desirably has at least two radially extending wall means but conveniently may have 3, 4, 5 or more radially extending wall means in order to provide higher torque for a given size of motor. The rotor conduit means may be disposed at any convenient angle to longitudinal axis of the motor but preferably is disposed at an angle of from 20 to 90°, most preferably from 30 to 70° to the longitudinal axis, diverging radially therefrom in the downstream direction along the motor. One or more such conduit means may be provided for each of the wing means. In general the conduit means will be dimensioned so as to provide a fluid flow of the order of 0.5 to 0.8% each.
Further preferred features and advantages of the invention will appear from the following detailed description given by way of example of some preferred embodiments illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:
Fig. 1 is a sectional side view of a first embodiment of a wing motor in accordance with the present invention showing sections along the planes I-I and I-IA in Fig. 2; Fig. 2 (A&B) is a transverse sectional view of the wing motor of Fig. 1 taken along planes II-IIA and II-IIB; Fig. 3 is a sectional view corresponding generally to that of Fig. 2 of a modified embodiment; Fig. 4 is a schematic sectional view corresponding generally to that of Fig. 2 of a further embodiment; and Fig. 5 is a detail view corresponding to part of Fig. 1 of a modified embodiment which has a direct connection from the strainer to the rotor thereof.
Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, a first embodiment of a wing motor in accordance with the present invention comprises a tubular outer casing l, a concentric inner casing running-liner 2 with generally radially inwardly projecting wall means in the form of longitudinally extending wing deflector cams 3 (see Fig. 2) which form a stator for the wing motor, and a rotor 4 running in hard rubber or low friction plastics material bearings 5 at either end 4a, b. Suitable plastics include PTFE (e.g. Teflon and polyamide-polyimide (e.g. Torlon) and suitable rubbers include copolymers of vynilidene fluoride and hexa-fluoropropene especially those available under the Trade Name VITON from Dupont of Buffalp, USA.
A drive end 6 of the rotor 4 is connected by a splined coupling 7 to a stub shaft 8 on which a ring 9 is mounted to contain the bearing races and transfer axial forces from the shaft 8 to a bearing assembly housing 10 (not shown in detail) . The stub shaft 8 is mounted in the bearing housing 10 which also acts as the thrust block for the wing motor and forms an extension of a drive member 11 containing a drill bit or other tool engagement socket 12. The rotor 4 is rotatably supported in the outer casing 1 via the low friction bearings 5 which are mounted in bearing housings 14 .
The rotor 4 is provided with a plurality of radially extending circumferentially spaced recesses in the form of roundbottomed slots 16, in which are disposed elongate longitudinally extending wings in the form of cylindrical rollers 15. The rollers 15 are movable between retracted positions in which they are fully contained within the slots 16 and radially projecting positions in which they partly project from the radially outer surface 4c of the rotor 4.
Each wing 15 is made of VITON rubber or other resiliently defor able polymeric material. A generally annular space 18 is defined between the rotor 4 and inner casing 2 and is divided by the two diametrically opposed wing deflector cams 3 into two chambers 18a, 18b. Each of said chambers 18a, 18b, is provided at a longitudinally upstream end 18c with inlet means in the form of several inlet ports .19 and at a longitudinally downstream end 18d, with outlet means in the form of several outlet ports 20 for the passage of pressurised working fluid there-through as indicated by the arrows thereat. (NB Although both inlet and outlet ports are shown on the section of Fig.4, it should be appreciated that these are longitudinally offset being disposed at opposite sides of an annular wall in the form of a bearing seal 21 as shown in Fig. 1 - as shown in the split sections of Figs. 2A-2B and 3A-3B) .
The base 16a of each slot 16 is provided with a conduit 32a leading from a central axial bore 32 extending along the rotor 4 which carries a substantial part of the working fluid flow through the motor. The conduit 32a is inclined at about 30° to the central longitudinal axis of the motor and directs a jet of fluid against the underside of the wing 15 thereby applying a radially outward force thereto tending to press it against the casing 2 and the wing deflector cams 3 and seal it thereagainst. It will of course be appreciated that the roller wings 15 will in practice tend to roll as the rotor turns thereby passing over any particulate matter trapped between the roller wings 15 and the casing 2 or deflector cams 3 without damage thereto. Moreover by utilising wing rollers of at least partly resiliently deformable material, the surface of the latter can yield locally as it passes over particulate material substantially without displacement of the main body of the wing roller 15 or loss of sealing between it and the casing 2 or deflector cams 3.
Due to the increased flow resistance to the fluid entering the chambers 18a-b via the inlet ports 19, the fluid in the central bore 32 of the rotor 4 will generally be at a somewhat higher pressure e.g. 1000 p.s.i. as compared to 900 p.s.i. in the chambers 18 a-b and this provides the necessary positive flow through the conduits 32a.
The illustrated motor is mainly utilised in down-hole applications and is particularly useful for directional drilling. Pressurised drilling fluid or mud is used to rotate the motor rotor 4 and thereby to drive the drive shaft 11. The fluid enters the chambers 18a, b through the inlet ports 19 and exits through the outlet ports 20. As may be seen in Fig. 2, two first wings 151, projecting across respective ones of the chambers 18a, b are exposed to high pressure working fluid entering through the inlet ports 19 at their trailing sides 15c thereby exerting a clockwise (as viewed in Fig. 2) turning moment on the rotor 4. Two other pairs of wings 152 are pressed down into their retracted positions in the slots 16 by the wing deflector cams 3. When the rotor 4 has turned approximately 30° further in the clock-wise direction under the influence of the fluid pressure on the first mentioned wings 151 in the chambers 18a, b the retracted wings 152 will clear the wing deflector cams 3 and be resiliently restored into their projecting positions with their trailing sides 15c exposed to the hydraulic pressure of the working fluid entering through the inlet ports 19 and so in turn exerting a turning moment on the rotor 4 thereby ensuring a continuous rotating and driving force on the rotor 4 with a torque substantially directly proportional to the pressure of the working fluid.
The exhausted working fluid at the leading faces 15e of the wings 15 is compressed between the advancing leading faces 15e and the respective opposed wing deflector cams 3 and displaced longitudinally along the chamber to be expelled out of the outlet ports 20 at the longitudinally downstream end of the inner casing 2, into an annular outlet conduit means 20a defined between the inner and outer casings 2, 1 and separated from inlet conduit means 19a, between the inner and outer casings 2, 1 at their upstream ends adjacent the inlet ports 19, .by an annular bearing seal 21. Conveniently the wing deflector cam means 3 could be inclined slightly so as to wind helically clockwise as viewed in Fig. l towards the lower outlet end of the motor so as to facilitate progressive longitudinal displacement of exhausted working fluid towards the outlet ports as the rotor wings 15 advance. Alternatively the wings 15 could be formed with a slight helical twist so as to provide a similar effect.
In case of possible malfunctions of the motor, pawl means could be included in line with the wings 15 for engagement with steep end faces of the wing deflector cams 3 adjacent the inlet ports 19 so that when the motor casing 1, 2 is driven in a clockwise direction the pawl means will lock against the wing deflector cam end faces thereby transmitting torque to the rotor 4 and thereby to the drive shaft 11 and tool mount 12 to rotate the drill bit or other tool. The motor is thus in effect self locking»
It will be appreciated that various modifications may be made to the abovedescribed embodiment without departing from the scope of the present invention. Thus, for example, in place of the annular separation seal 21 between the inlet and outlet conduit means there could be provided generally longitudinally extending wall means, the bearing housing circumferential portions being apertured so as to restrict communication between the main inlet and outlet 23, 24 to respective ones of the inlet and outlet conduits 18a, b.
It may further be noted that the inlet and outlet ports are relatively large and that they are longitudinally spaced and separated by a generally annular wall means providing a relatively large cross-sectional area annular flow passage for the fluid between the inner and outer casings, and a large cross-sectional area flow passage through the ports. With such an arrangement it is possible to operate the motor with relatively high fluid pressure but low fluid flow speeds, corresponding to high torque and low speed rotor operation, the speed being generally below 1000 r.p.m. for example, from 100 to 200 r.p.m. for a 200 mm diameter motor and from 600 to 1000 r.p.m. for a 50 mm diameter motor, and at generally corresponding speeds for other sizes. This is particularly advantageous where relatively abrasive fluids such as drilling mud are used to drive the motor since wearing of the motor parts which is a major problem at high flow rates is substantially minimised at low speeds.
It will also be appreciated that the drilling mud flow required for cooling of the drill bit etc. will usually be in excess of that passing through the wing motor. This requirement may be satisfied by suitable dimensioning of the central axial bore 32 which feeds the jet flow conduits and allows part of the fluid flow from the main inlet 23 to by-pass the rotor chambers 18a, b and pass directly to the drill-bit holder 12 via a suitable throttle or nozzle means 33. As an alternative the latter could be disposed at the upper end 34 of the rotor 4 in the bearing housing 14 thereat whereby there could be used a drop nozzle which could be more or less readily changed with the aid of, for example, a wire line overshot fishing tool, to allow variation of the distribution of the drilling mud flow between the rotor chambers 18^, b and the by-pass passage 32, e.g. for rotor speed control.
It will be appreciated that, with the use of a suitable strainer 63 lining the internal conduit 32 of the rotor 4, it is possible to use fluids such as inadequately screened drilling muds which are in practice, often encountered in the drilling industry, without interfering with running of the motor. The strainer has a large plurality of small generally slot-form apertures 64 (only some shown) in its side wall 65 and has a tapered downstream end 66 sealed with a screwthreaded plug 67. As an alternative though the tapered end 66 of the strainer 63 could be connected directly to the upstream end 34 of the rotor 4 by a connector 68 with a suitable low friction bearing sleeve 69 between the connector 68 and strainer 63 to obtain a greater fluid flow through the rotor bore 32 e.g. in order to provide greater cooling and/or lubrication to a tool mounted in holder 12 and/or to allow the use of fluids such as drilling muds containing fibres and/or other lost circulation material for "sealing" porous strata against absorption of drilling mud, without the risk of such materials interfering with the operation of the motor.
It will also be understood that various modifications may be made to the the abovedescribed embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention. Thus for example in the motor of Fig.l, the inlet and outlet apertures 19,20 of the inner casing are desirably minimised in size in order to reduce wear on the wings 15. Also there could be used an integrally formed casing with suitable inlet and outlet conduit means 19a,20a formed therein, instead of separately formed inner and outer casings 2,1 which define longitudinally spaced annular inlet and outlet conduit means 19a,20a therein either side of the annular wall 21. The latter arrangement is however preferred though from the point of view of manufacturing convenience and also because it helps to maximize the cross-sectional area of the inlet and outlet conduits 19a,20a thereby reducing resistance to fluid flow through the motor and facilitating maximum fluid flow through the motor thereby maximizing torque etc. This in turn helps to minimize the overall diameter of the motor required to achieve a given torque which is particularly significant in the context of the small diameter of boreholes and the like in which the motor may be used. In order further to simplify manufacture of the motor, the radially extending wall means 3 are also conveniently formed separately and connected to the inner casing by any suitable means preferably releasable ones e.g. screws 70, which also allows for replacement thereof when required e.g. as a result of wear. Where the casing is in two parts as shown in Fig.l and an annular wall 21 is used to separate the inlet and outlet conduits 19a,20a, the wall 21 is desirably fixed securely to both the inner and outer casings 2,1 e.g. using bolts or radially extending pins, so as to prevent relative rotation therebetween and absorb the reactive forces during running of the motor. As shown in Fig.l the wall means 21 is desirably provided with suitable high performance seals 71 e.g. high temperature silicon rubber seals.
In order to provide effective sealing at the ends of the roller wings 15, there are provided on the rotor 4 at opposite ends thrust plates 72 which have shallow radially extending slots 73 which align with and form short extensions 74 of the wing mounting slots 16 into which extreme end portions 75 of the wing rollers 15 extend. The radially outer surface 76 of the thrust plate 72 mounts a low friction sleeve seal 77 which helps to minimise leakage at the ends of the wing rollers 15 and loss of fluid pressure from the motor chambers 18a, 18b.
As indicated above various numbers and various forms of radially extending walls 3 and wings 15 may be used (see Figs. 3 and 4). Advantageously at least two, desirably three, wings are used for each wall so that there are usually at least two wings 15 between successive walls 3. This increases sealing between the inlets and outlets 19,20 and hence maximizes the torque of the motor. In order to increase the maximum operating speed of the motor, the wings should desirably be made as light as possible to minimize their inertia and the driving force applied to them by the jet flow of fluid via passages 32a, maximised.
The motors of the invention may be used for various purposes with various working fluids including gases such as compressed air. As noted above though the motors of the invention are particularly suitable for use in downhole applications such as drilling and cording and the present invention includes with its scope drilling and coring apparatus wherein the motor is a motor of the present invention, as well as methods of driving drilling and coring apparatus using a motor of the present invention.

Claims

1. A motor suitable for use in down-hole drilling applications, which motor is a wing motor and comprises a generally tubular casing (1) and a rotor (4) mounted for rotation within said casing (1) and substantially radially spaced therefrom so as to define a chamber (18) therebetween, said casing (1) being provided with angularly spaced apart inlet means (19) and outlet means (20) for ingress of pressurised working fluid from inlet conduit means (19a) in said casing (1) into said chamber (18) and egress of said fluid from within said chamber (18) to outlet conduit means (20a) separated from said inlet conduit means (19a) by wall means (2) in use of the motor, said casing (1) having generally radially extending wall means (3) extending substantially into contact with said rotor at an angular position between said outlet means (20) and said inlet means (19), said rotor (4) having a plurality of angularly spaced apart wing means (15) said wing means (15) being mounted in generally radially extending recesses (16) so as to be displacable therein from a generally radially projecting position in substantially sealing engagement with the inner casing (2) to a generally retracted position when traversing the radially extending wall means (3) said wing means (15) and inlet and outlet means (19, 20) being formed and arranged and relatively angularly disposed so that, in use of said motor, a flow of pressurised fluid into said chamber (18) acts against an upstream side (18a) of a first said wing means (151) so as to rotate said rotor (4) while venting fluid from its downstream side (18d) until said wing means (151) traverses said outlet means (20) and a second said wing means (152) traverses the inlet means (19) whereupon said process is repeated characterised in that said rotor (4) is provided with conduit means having inlet means (19a) formed and arranged for ingress of pressurised working fluid, in use of the motor, at a pressure higher than that obtaining in the chamber (18) ; and having outlet portions (20a) leading into said radially extending recesses (16) and formed and arranged so as to direct a jet flow of said pressurised working fluid against the underside of said wing means (15) for driving said wing means (15) radially outwardly of said recesses (16) , said wing means (15) and recesses (16) being formed and arranged so as to provide clearance passages therebetween for escape of said pressurised working fluid jet flow around said wing means (15) into said chamber (18) at least in the radially projecting position of the wing means (15) .
2. A motor as claimed in claim 1 wherein said casing (1) comprises a inner (2) and an outer casing (1) with said inlet and said outlet conduit means (19a, 20a) defined therebetween.
3. A motor as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein said inlet and said outlet conduit (19a, 20a) means are longitudinally spaced apart at opposite sides of an annular wall means (21) .
4. A motor as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein the radially extending wall means (3) comprise longitudinally extending cams (3) along the interior wall surface of the casing (1) .
5. A motor as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein said inlet and said outlet means comprise a plurality of discretely formed inlet and outlet ports (19, 20) in the inner casing (2).
6. A motor as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein said radially retractable wing means (15) are made from one or more materials selected from the group comprising resiliently deformable polymeric materials; plastics materials and metals.
7. A motor as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6 wherein said wing means (15) are in a generally cylindrical form.
8. A motor as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6 wherein said wing means (15) are in a generally strip or slab form shape.
9. A motor as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8 wherein said radially extending recesses (16) are formed and arranged so as to be at least slightly wider than said wing means (15) throughout the stroke of said wing means (15) thereby to define said clearance passages for escape of pressurised fluid substantially throughout the whole travel of said wing means (15) between said retracted and projected positions.
10. A motor as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8 wherein said recesses (16) are a more or less close sliding fit at their radially inward ends (16a) with said wing means (15) .
11. A motor as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 10 wherein said recesses (16) have an enlarged width at their radially outer end thereby to provide wider clearance passages thereat.
12. A motor as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 11 wherein said rotor (4) has an odd number of wings (15) .
13. A motor as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 12 which has at least two radially extending wall means (3)
14. A motor as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 13 wherein said rotor conduit means (19a, 20a) is disposed at an angle of from 20 to 90β to the longitudinal axis of said rotor.
PCT/GB1992/000202 1991-02-02 1992-02-03 Down-hole wing motor WO1992014037A1 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
GB9102320.0 1991-02-02
GB919102320A GB9102320D0 (en) 1991-02-02 1991-02-02 Down-hole wing motor

Publications (1)

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WO1992014037A1 true WO1992014037A1 (en) 1992-08-20

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WO (1) WO1992014037A1 (en)

Cited By (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO1994016198A1 (en) * 1993-01-07 1994-07-21 Grupping Arnold W Downhole roller vane motor and roller vane pump
CN1081287C (en) * 1998-05-20 2002-03-20 叶少华 Oil production method and device for heavy oil well
US6499976B1 (en) 2001-08-17 2002-12-31 Mcphate Andrew J. Downhole roller vane motor
WO2013159153A1 (en) * 2012-04-27 2013-10-31 Greystone Technologies Pty Ltd Downhole motor with concentric rotary drive system
SE2051146A1 (en) * 2020-10-01 2022-04-02 Lkab Wassara Ab Drive device for rotatable operation of a drill bit at a submersible drill

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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2725013A (en) * 1952-01-15 1955-11-29 Constantinos H Vlachos Rotary engine
GB856687A (en) * 1957-04-08 1960-12-21 Hobourn Eaton Mfg Co Ltd Improvements in rotary pumps
GB1291720A (en) * 1969-12-20 1972-10-04 Hypro Inc Rotary roller pumps
GB2201734A (en) * 1987-02-14 1988-09-07 Neil Andrew Abercrombi Simpson Roller vane machine
WO1990009510A1 (en) * 1989-02-09 1990-08-23 John Richard Neville Roe Positive displacement wing motor

Patent Citations (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US2725013A (en) * 1952-01-15 1955-11-29 Constantinos H Vlachos Rotary engine
GB856687A (en) * 1957-04-08 1960-12-21 Hobourn Eaton Mfg Co Ltd Improvements in rotary pumps
GB1291720A (en) * 1969-12-20 1972-10-04 Hypro Inc Rotary roller pumps
GB2201734A (en) * 1987-02-14 1988-09-07 Neil Andrew Abercrombi Simpson Roller vane machine
WO1990009510A1 (en) * 1989-02-09 1990-08-23 John Richard Neville Roe Positive displacement wing motor

Cited By (10)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO1994016198A1 (en) * 1993-01-07 1994-07-21 Grupping Arnold W Downhole roller vane motor and roller vane pump
CN1081287C (en) * 1998-05-20 2002-03-20 叶少华 Oil production method and device for heavy oil well
US6499976B1 (en) 2001-08-17 2002-12-31 Mcphate Andrew J. Downhole roller vane motor
WO2013159153A1 (en) * 2012-04-27 2013-10-31 Greystone Technologies Pty Ltd Downhole motor with concentric rotary drive system
US9574401B2 (en) 2012-04-27 2017-02-21 Greystone Technologies Pty. Ltd. Downhole motor with concentric rotary drive system
AU2013252493B2 (en) * 2012-04-27 2017-04-27 Greystone Technologies Pty Ltd Downhole motor with concentric rotary drive system
AU2017202308B2 (en) * 2012-04-27 2018-07-26 Greystone Technologies Pty Ltd Downhole motor with concentric rotary drive system
SE2051146A1 (en) * 2020-10-01 2022-04-02 Lkab Wassara Ab Drive device for rotatable operation of a drill bit at a submersible drill
WO2022071838A1 (en) * 2020-10-01 2022-04-07 Lkab Wassara Ab A drive device for rotatable operation of a drill bit of a down-the-hole hammer
SE545668C2 (en) * 2020-10-01 2023-11-28 Lkab Wassara Ab Drive device for rotatable operation of a drill bit in a sink drilling machine

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
AU1183292A (en) 1992-09-07
GB9102320D0 (en) 1991-03-20

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